1. Technical Field
The present invention is related generally to stringed instruments and particularly stringed instruments which use frets. More particularly, the invention is related to the frets used with such stringed instruments and the fingerboard or fret board on which the frets are mounted.
2. Background Information
Stringed instruments which utilize frets mounted on the neck of the instrument to facilitate changing the pitch during the fingering of the instrument are well known in the art. Many different types of frets have been proposed to address one problem or another in the art, and include frets which have removable portions, frets which are retractable into the neck or fret board and frets which are curved or otherwise configured to extend along the surface of the fret board other than at right angles to the length of the neck. Some frets have relatively pointed upper surfaces which are contacted by the strings when a player depresses the string while others have rounded or flat upper surfaces.
Some of the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,779 granted to Petillo and U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,969 granted to Petillo et al., each of which discloses frets having rather sharp tips. U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,952 granted to Terlinde teaches a generally cylindrical groove and cylindrical nylon fret having metallic inserts with electrical leads connected to the inserts. U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,845 granted to Conkling et al. disclosed a flexible spring fret which is used in conjunction with a compressible rubber or rubber like fret board in which the fret includes a depressor plate which the guitarist depresses into the compressible fret board in order to move the fret proper to produce a vibrato effect. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2001/0029827 of Chapman discloses several prior art configurations and a generally square bar with a pair of its corners aligned horizontally and with various portions removed to produce various cross sectional shapes in which a portion of the bar extends above the upper surface of the fret board. Chapman further discloses adhesive retaining slots used to secure the fret to the fret board. U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,469 granted to Vogt discloses a fret which utilizes a metal body and has an upwardly opening groove in which a plastic insert is removably inserted and serves as the fret proper. U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,439 granted to Keefe et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,952,593 granted to Wilder both disclose channel members which are secured within the grooves of a fret board and themselves include grooves which slidably receive a fret in its lengthwise direction for mounting the fret on the fret board. Keefe further discloses a metal or plastic fret board with grooves into which respective frets are slid lengthwise for mounting on the fret board in order to eliminate the use of a wooden fret board and any potential damage to such a wooden fret board. Thus, the frets in these two patents do not disclose a sliding insertion of a fret which is in direct contact with a wooden fret board. U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,151 granted to Barth discloses a hollow circular fret which is held in place by a screw which threadably engages the bottom portion of the side wall of the fret in order to provide a stable mounting of the fret. Barth specifically discusses the inadequacy of the structural stability and removability of frets such as disclosed in the Keefe patent noted above.
While frets obviously have a variety of configurations, the Applicants are not aware of any frets which specifically address the need to create a fret which increases the sustain or endurance of a given note compared to the frets known in the art. The frets and fret board of the present invention address this and other problems in the art.